Except for brief periods of successful oil skimming at the Ixtoc I oil spill off Mexico, attempts to mechanically recover reasonable quantities of oil spilled offshore have been largely unsuccessful to date. It is fortuitous that the same high winds and steep waves that render floating mechanical spill cleanup equipment useless, are the principal forces which rapidly and naturally disperse oil into the water column, preventing major damage to shoreline environment. In the offshore industry there is no offshore operation which is constrained so heavily by weather as oil spill cleanup operations. The majority of booms and skimmers are only operable in moderate (less than 4-foot) waves. A notable exception is the "SOCK" skimmer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,994, which recovered oil in 6 to 10-foot waves at the Ixtoc I spill. Unfortunately, offshore waves tend to damage and eventually destroy somewhat delicate booms and skimmers. Such devices must necessarily be light and flexible so that they are sufficiently wave compliant to encounter the floating oil at the water's surface. Hence, such booms and skimmers are only part of the answer to the problem of offshore oil spills.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to providing a system which overcomes the above noted problems of the art and which is capable of recovering a reasonable percentage of oil spilled from a tanker accident, well blowout, or other offshore loss incident.